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Jan 21

The prophet will not profit from lying

Posted on Thursday, January 21, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

profit, prophet
profit means income minus expenses
prophet means someone who speaks by divine inspiration

rack, wrack
rack means a frame used to hang things
wrack means seaweed that has been cast ashore and dried

rain, reign, rein
rain means water falling from clouds in drops
reign means the exercise of a ruler’s power
rein means a strap used to control a horse

Jan 20

The prince prints the ball invitations

Posted on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

pray, prey
pray means to speak with God
prey means to victimize

presence, presents
presence means within a person’s immediate vicinity
presents means gifts

prince, prints
prince means male royalty
prints means fingerprints

Jan 19

Email – bounced back

Posted on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 in Email tips

When you send someone an email and you get a strange email back that says your email didn’t make it through, don’t just stop there. The recipient might need your help in order to receive emails. Especially if their mailbox is full.

Typically, a bounce message will contain several pieces of information to help the original sender in understanding the reason his message was not delivered:
The date and time the message was bounced,
The identity of the mail server that bounced it,
The reason that it was bounced (e.g. user unknown or mailbox full),
The headers of the bounced message, and
Some or all of the content of the bounced message.

The important piece of information is the reason. Perhaps that person’s mailbox is full and they need to be informed of that so they can clear out some old emails.

Jan 18

She will pour soup for the poor

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

plum, plumb
plum means a purple edible fruit with a stone
plumb means truly vertical

pole, poll
pole means a tall, slender piece of metal or wood
poll means a survey

poor, pore, pour
poor means with little or no money
pore means a tiny opening in the skin
pour means to move liquid from one container to another

Jan 17

This plane serves plain food

Posted on Sunday, January 17, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

plain, plane
plain means ordinary
plane means an airplane

plait, plate
plait means to interweave
plate means a dish from which food is eaten

pleas, please
pleas means appeals
please means to make happy

Jan 16

There can only be one purr per cat

Posted on Saturday, January 16, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

peer, pier
peer means to look with difficulty
pier means a raised platform built from shore out over water

per, purr
per means for each
purr means a vibrating sound made by a cat when contented

pi, pie
pi means the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter
pie means a pastry with outer crust and filling

Jan 15

The salesman will peddle a bicycle pedal

Posted on Friday, January 15, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

peal, peel
peal means the sound made by a bell
peel means the skin of a fruit

pearl, purl
pearl means an object produced within an oyster
purl means a knitting stitch

pedal, peddle, petal
pedal means to make a bicycle work
peddle means to sell something
petal means part of a flower

Jan 14

Peek at the peak through the clouds

Posted on Thursday, January 14, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

pea, pee
pea mens a vegetable that is a seed in a pod
pee means slang for urine

peace, piece
peace means absence of conflict
piece means part of something

peak, peek, pique
peak means the point of a mountain
peek means to sneak a glance
pique means to arouse interest

Jan 13

The cat will often pause to clean his paws

Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 in Homonyms/Homophones, Incorrect word usage

palate, palette, pallet
palate means the roof of the mouth
palette means the thin board a painter uses to mix paint
pallet means a wooden platform used by a forklift

patience, patients
patience means the quality of being patient
patients means clients seen by a doctor

pause, paws
pause means to briefly stop what you are doing
paws means the feet of an animal

Jan 12

Don't use that tone with me!

Posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 in Email tips

An email can be taken in a completely different way than you intended.

If it is a critical email, carefully choose your words. Read it out loud. Consider saving it as a draft and reading it again later before sending it.

Typing your email in all caps is considered shouting.

Typing your email in all small case can be considered lazy.

For more email ettiquette tips, I recommend 101 Email Etiquette Tips.